Number Four's Teresa Palmer: Bruises Build Character

Published May 24, 2011 at 5:03 AM | Updated at 11:47 AM PDT on May 30, 2012

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Think the life of an up-and-coming actress like Teresa Palmer sounds cushy? Not so fast: Today’s adrenaline-packed, action-oriented movie marketplace isn’t for sissies.

Palmer, who stars in the sci-fi thriller “I Am Number Four” (hitting home video May 24), tells PopcornBiz that girly-girls may have a rough go meeting the demands that increasingly physical female roles – like her stint as the confrontational alien refugee Number Six – call for, but they’re worth it.

“I'm relatively athletic, but nothing in comparison to the work that I had to do on this film – it was very trying,” the 25-year-old Australian actress, who previously had lower-impact roles seducing Daniel Radcliffe in “September Boys” and charming Adam Sandler in “Bedtime Stories,” admits. “It was really intense – I had to do physical training for a number of months before we started. I learned how to ride a Ducati motorbike, and how to flip around on wires, suspended six feet high in the air. Yeah, it was very grueling, but it's so rewarding at the same time.”

The actress says she had a blast trying to master maneuvering her Ducati, but the experience also tested her nerves. She confesses she didn’t acquire an offscreen taste for motorcycling.

“I think that my mother would kill me, so, no,” she laughs. “Motorbike riding is certainly just for the movies for me.”

Palmer says that actresses who add rigorous physical skills to their acting resume definitely gain an edge at the next audition.

“I think we can learn any of this stuff on a film, but it certainly helps to be able to have a body of work to show that you can do the stunts and that are you capable of being a physical actress and not just being a gentle actress who doesn't want to get scratched up or bruised,” she says. “I get more into my character the more bruised that I am!"